Triumphant Kings and the Legacy of Akkadian Steles

The Susa stele of Naram-Sin of Akkad is often viewed as a model for later victory monuments, in part because of modern Orientalist stereotypes and admiration for the stele’s aesthetics. However, other Akkadian monuments presented a different view of Akkadian kingship. This chapter argues that post-Akkadian images of a triumphant king standing upon his enemy were shaped by a wider range of visual models and memories of the Akkadians. Case studies include rock reliefs in the Zagros Mountains, royal steles from the Old Babylonian period, and the Bisitun relief of the Achaemenid king Darius I. The irony of this chapter is that it reaffirms the stele of Naram-Sin’s exceptional status within the history of Mesopotamian art while undermining the notion that this exceptionalism led to the stele’s direct influence over the design of later victory monuments.